Crown Bakery, has finally open its doors in Crown Centre! A brief just-so-you-know fact sheet about Crown: They are a collaboration between Far East Flora, yes Singapore’s biggest name in plants and flowers retail, and Japan’s top artisanal bakery, Significant Signifié. That basically makes Crown the baby of the amalgamation of Singapore’s retail experience, Japanese’s baking expertise and European’s bread heritage – a very impressive background I would say.
What makes Crown stand out from the other European bakeries in Singapore, is it’s promise to serve up healthier bread with no artificial food flavoring, coloring, preservatives, harmful additives, and chemical improvers, yet wholesome and delicious. A very tall order indeed. Yet they are able to hold that promise by using the best ingredients around the world like, French mill wheat flour, Hokkaido Kitanokaori flour etc. in their 45 (!!!) varieties of bread, viennoiseries and snacks, that consist of wholegrain, soluble fibers and healthy fats, and they DO have really amazing textures and taste to them. Besides, they do serve up a pretty good range of brunch items, all these make them my favorite bakery ever.
The Place
Located in Crown Center, they are just a 6-7 minute walk away from Botanic Gardens MRT. Fairly accessible and it is definitely worth the little walk here. I love how classy Crown Bakery looks, in stark contrast to the old and rundown Crown Center they are housed in. It’s like a breath of fresh air in the old neighborhood and certainly, very uplifting to the entire atmosphere.Here’s PART of their display of breads, which you can choose to dine in or bring them home to savor it for the next few days. YUM.
And the kitchen where you can see the bakers in action. Did you know, Crown has bakers hailing from Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, they are really a textbook example of globalization eh?
The Food
Besides their wide range of breads, Crown also has a brunch menu with a little twist for all us brunch lovers!
And waffles too!
Introducing the Crown’s Signatures:
1. CROWN BREAD – $12.80
The presentation of this Crown Bread is shaped to mimic the laurel in Crown’s Bakery logo (Not the one you see here)! This item features 4 flavors – Red Wine Fig, Cranberry and Cherry, Bacon Cheese and Mustard Chocolate. Only 18 pieces available daily. If you want to make sure that you get your hands on these yummy breads, you can place a pre-order 2 days before the collection date!
2. KAORI CIABATTA – $4.00
I do not have an individual photo for this but it is part of the platter above! I love this bread because of the unique texture it has. This Kaori Ciabatta is crafted entirely from Hokkaido Kitanokaori flour, French mineral water, sea salt and 100% pure malt extract, which gives it a light and crispy crust with a soft and mochi-like inside. I LOVE IT. It’s so easy to chew and a really unique bread experience!
3. HAINANESE CHICKEN BREAD – $4.50The bread that has made a huge splash on social media, because… CHICKEN RICE BREAD. WHAT? This is made from chicken soup, skinless chicken thigh, garlic, ginger and shallots. You could really taste the chicken rice in this, and the best part of it? It comes along with the garlicky chicken rice chili sauce. It’s seriously just like having chicken rice here. An innovative dish, and we were left very impressed!
THE OTHER BREADS
I’m gonna introduce some of the other breads I’ve tried as well from Crown. For Matcha and Earl Grey lovers, you’ll be pleased to find out that Crown serves up several variations of these tea infused items which are VERY fragrant and well-infused.
1. MACARON CROISSANT – $4.20 I’ve finally a croissant that can rival my favorite from Tiong Bahru Bakery. This macaron croissant consists of CHUNKS of roasted Hazelnuts, French butter, Japanese wheat flour and Crown’s handcrafted raisin yeast amongst other quality ingredients. The croissant was really buttery fragrant, and crisp on the outside. I especially loved the surprise from the hazelnut within. You’ve got to try their croissants if you’re a fan of one!
Mentaiko on bread?! What a unique twist to the usual garlic breads we have. The mentaiko used together with the garlic and japanese mayonnaise elevated the flavors in this garlic bread, making it more addictive and of course, more salty, just the way I like it! Although I thought the bread was a little too rough, which gave the roof of my mouth a good grinding while I try to shove it into my mouth. Haha!
I cannot emphasize how much I loved this. I’m never a fan of tea infused food because they tend to be pretty overwhelming on my palates. However, this was just the right intensity, a distinctive earl grey fragrance, yet not overpowering at all. Besides, the texture of this loaf was OH SO PILLOWY AND SOFT. Can I say it’s the best feeling bread I’ve ever had? I want to feel this again in my mouth right now!
I expected this loaf to be pretty hard, like the usual loaves we have at bakeries. However, this loaf was really soft and easy to eat, yet crisp on the outside. Made with truffle oil and truffle paste, the truffle taste in this was significant, and not forgetting, the generous fillings of the medley of mushrooms! Basically all of my favorite foods in one place. You got to get this if you’re a fan of truffle!
Brunch Menu
1. CROWN’S BREAKFAST – $29.00 A meal suit for your highness. Yes, I know the price seems to be a little steep for a brunch item but the serving for this is so generous, it is fit for 2 kings. Served alongside the middle piece of Crown Puff Pastry are, a sunny side up, red wine braised oxtail, chicken sausage, Canadian Back bacon, sauteed mushrooms, baked tomato and a side of mesclun salad. I haven’t seen a brunch item as extensive as this really. And everything was just SO FILLING and SATISFYING. Just the right item for a person who loves her protein on a plate! Here’s a tip, break of a wedge of the crown puff pastry and dip it into the yolk of the sunny side up… As crude as it may sound, orgasmic was the sensation we all thought was a perfect description to this.
2. The Queen’s Eggs Benedict – $18 I am not a fan of Eggs benedict, frankly because it is just so.. Passe. It’s like a dying trend in brunch and so mainstream, but this eggs benedict changed my mind. I would actually consider ordering this again when I’m back at Crown. What impressed me most was the fluffy sourdough English Muffin used in this dish. It was just so soft and fluffy, I thought I was eating a pillow. Wow. Just wow.
A unique take of the usual bread pudding dish we usually have. The addition of pears poached in whole earl grey leaves, surrounded with earl grey anglaise, and lightly dusted with earl grey snow, was just an elevation of the usual bread pudding. However, for those of you who are expecting a strong earl grey taste to this, you’ll be pretty disappointed, because the earl grey in this was not as distinctive. Nevertheless, a great take, and would even be better with a scoop of ice cream!
4. CROWN’S SOURDOUGH BUTTERMILK WAFFLE – $6, +$3 for a scoop of ice cream and fresh fruits This is a classic example of same same but different. The texture in this resembled that of its breads, probably because of the Japanese Wheat Flour. Besides, I loved the slight bready taste to this waffle. I would prefer this to any other waffle, really! Try it to know what I mean!
Closing Remarks
Crown Bakery and Cafe has definitely impressed me so much! I loved all the breads I’ve tasted and the brunch menu here has exceeded my expectations of a just another brunch item. I loved the unique take on their breads, like truffle, mushrooms, earl grey, and most of all, chicken rice. Crown has definitely started off on a right note, and I would expect a lot more from this amazing bakery, with its innovation and assurance of quality in its ingredients!
How to get there?
557 Bukit Timah Road
Crown Center, #01-03
Singapore 269694
Opening Hours
Sunday to Thursday: 7.30am – 9.30pm
Friday – Saturday: 7.30am – 10.30pm
Contact
Facebook: Crownbakerysg
Instagram: @crownbakery
[…] Chicken Rice Dumpling – $8.80++ We’ve got our Hainanese Chicken Rice bread from Crown, and now we have it in the dumpling form. What’s inside: Marinated raw glutinous rice with […]
[…] the foreground of this picture, is Crown’s very own loaf of truffle and mushroom bread. The price may be a little hefty, but trust me, this […]